Chapter 36 God, save Real Madrid!
March 8th, Women's Day.
This day, Gao Shen started with a report.
Real Madrid's mouthpiece, Marca, issued a final appeal on the morning of the match.
"God, save Real Madrid!"
This sentence almost expresses the inner cry of all Real Madrid fans, because tonight's battle at London's Highbury Stadium will determine Real Madrid's fate in the Champions League this season and even the fate of countless people.
Marca carefully wrote an article, which on the one hand explained how bad Real Madrid's current situation is, but at the same time also called on everyone in Real Madrid to work together to create miracles away from home, to show the spirit of Juanito, and even if they lose, they must play with the spirit of Real Madrid.
At the end of the article, Marca believes that if Real Madrid wants to win, it can only turn to God for help.
In another article on the second page, Marca criticized the ridiculous decision of acting head coach Gao Shen, believing that his failure to bring the team's top scorer Ronaldo to London was tantamount to suicide.
"He's destroying Real Madrid!"
When Gao Shen saw this, he couldn't help but sneer.
Because these media also said the same thing before the match against Atletico Madrid.
…
AS's coverage is not inferior to that of Marca.
Their front page cover is a photo taken at Madrid Capital Airport. It shows many Real Madrid fans seeing the team off to London. One of the fans made the sign of the cross on his chest and prayed to the sky while watching the team leave.
"God, I hope Wednesday doesn't belong to Henry!"
This is what the Real Madrid fan expressed when he was interviewed by AS later.
At the Bernabeu, it was Henry who made Real Madrid suffer the pain of home defeat, and everyone also concluded that at Highbury, Henry would still be Arsenal's most threatening player and Real Madrid's biggest opponent in the defense.
The Real Madrid fan said that Arsenal is completely different from Atletico Madrid. The Gunners are stronger, have a more solid defense and better attacking power. This will be a huge test for Real Madrid. More importantly, in the history of the Champions League knockout stage, no one has created such a miracle except Ajax ten years ago.
As long as people don't lose their minds, no one should think that the current Real Madrid is comparable to the Ajax team ten years ago.
AS said that if Real Madrid wants to win at Highbury, they need God's mercy.
…
Not only Marca and AS, but other Spanish media, and even some European mainstream media including L'Equipe, are pessimistic about Real Madrid's battle at Highbury, believing that the possibility of a reversal is slim.
Especially after the turmoil of changing coaches.
In the words of El País, no one would expect a 25-year-old rookie to lead Real Madrid to defeat the powerful and arrogant Arsenal, especially with Ronaldo banned.
This seems to make sense.
Unlike the mainstream media in Spain and Europe, which have been singing the sad song of Real Madrid, the British media are generally optimistic about Arsenal's home win over Real Madrid. On the one hand, this is because of the support of historical data, and on the other hand, it is also because of Arsenal's current good form.
The Gunners beat Fulham 4-0 in the last round. They played very well and the players were in very good shape, which made everyone believe that at Highbury, Arsenal might even advance to the quarterfinals with a wonderful slaughter.
Gao Shen's decision not to bring Ronaldo and Carlos also excited the British media. They all believed that this was a signal that Real Madrid would adopt a defensive approach.
Without Ronaldo, the only superstars Real Madrid can rely on are Raul, Zidane and Beckham, but these three players did not perform well when facing Arsenal, especially Beckham.
During his eight years at Manchester United, Beckham went to Highbury seven times and only won twice, a winning rate that is touching.
In addition, there is another thing that is quite unfavorable to Real Madrid, that is the size of Highbury Stadium.
As we all know, UEFA has strict size requirements for all Champions League venues, but they only specify a range. Clubs can choose the size that best suits their own interests based on their own technical and tactical characteristics, such as longer or wider, as long as it is within the specified range.
Highbury Stadium is 101 meters long and 67 meters wide, making it one of the smallest stadiums in Europe. The Bernabeu Stadium is 105 meters long and 68 meters wide, which means it is 4 meters longer and 1 meter wider than Highbury Stadium.
Don't underestimate the difference of a few meters. For the highest level of players in the Champions League, especially for players of the level of Real Madrid and Arsenal, this deviation is still very obvious.
More importantly, this season will be Arsenal's last season at Highbury.
Starting from next season, the Gunners will move to the new stadium further north, which will be named the Emirates Stadium in the future. Highbury Stadium will be demolished and converted into a residential area.
Everyone at Arsenal hopes to leave a good memory at Highbury.
That's why Arsenal have performed so well at Highbury this season.
Putting aside Arsenal's own factors, people across England have now put aside their grudges and are fully supporting Arsenal.
Because Liverpool won the Champions League last season but failed to make the top four in the league, UEFA made an exception and allowed Liverpool to participate as the defending champion, starting from the first round of qualifiers, so there are five Premier League teams participating this season.
But unfortunately, Everton was eliminated in the qualifiers, Manchester United was defeated in the group stage, and in the just-concluded round of 16 knockout matches, Liverpool and Chelsea lost to Benfica and Barcelona respectively.
Originally the league with the most participants in the Champions League, but in the round of 16, only Arsenal was left. How could the proud British media and fans accept this?
The Guardian said that Arsenal is the last dignity of the Premier League!
After defeating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, everyone in Britain believed that the Gunners' advancement was a foregone conclusion.
Arsenal, playing at home, basically had it all: the right time, the right place, and the right people.
How could we lose a game like this?
…
Every game day is busy and fulfilling.
From the morning meeting to the afternoon preparations, the team even calculated the time to the minute.
Even the distance and time for the team to travel from the hotel to Highbury Stadium had to be confirmed repeatedly.
This is Real Madrid. If it is a team like Bayern Munich or Manchester United that prepares more carefully and professionally, they will even arrange the team bus to arrive at the away game in advance to familiarize themselves with the route.
When Real Madrid arrived at Highbury Stadium by bus, the stadium was already brightly lit as if it were day.
There were fans everywhere, rushing towards Highbury Stadium like a tide.
When they saw the bus with the Real Madrid team logo, the British fans immediately showed their bravery. Boos were considered mild. Many fans even rolled up their sleeves and were ready to break through the security personnel's obstruction and rush up to fight with the Real Madrid players.
The Real Madrid players did not stay outside for long. They got out of the car and went straight into the player tunnel and headed for the locker room.
The next thing is to go according to plan.
Pack up, do pre-match training, then return to the locker room to make final preparations before the game.
It was at this time that Gao Shen took out the reports and comments from media of various countries that Lucas had carefully prepared, which were collected from various channels such as websites and newspapers, and all of them were negative.
Gao Shen spread it out directly in the locker room, and it was really spectacular at first glance.
"These are the reports on this game from the mainstream media in several European countries today. Basically, they all believe that we are doomed to lose." Gao Shen shrugged helplessly and extended his hand.
"The game hasn't even started yet, but they've already sentenced us to death."
Everyone in the locker room was looking at the reports. Some of them they had seen and some they had not, but the content was basically the same.
Real Madrid is bound to lose!
"I don't know since when we have fallen to this level. Looking at the European football scene, it is hard to find an optimistic media that believes we can win. We have world-class superstars like Raul, Zidane, Beckham and Casillas, and the strength of our other players is also quite outstanding."
“But we have fallen to this point.”
Everyone in the locker room was silent.
This situation actually did not start when they were in high school, because Real Madrid's "degeneration" has been going on for some time.
From 2004 to now, Real Madrid has changed five head coaches. Among them, Camacho resigned angrily before the start of the season, and Gao Shen was only a 25-year-old rookie who had just graduated from school.
It can be said that the absurdity in football history has repeatedly appeared in Real Madrid in the past two years.
Every time there is a change of coach, every time something goes wrong, the stars will come out and say that we are responsible, but every time the storm is over, it's back to the same old situation.
"I know you don't want this to happen. Those who are able to sit here are all people who want to change the current situation of the team, are unwilling to sink, and want to prove themselves again in front of the world."
"Now, there is an opportunity right in front of us ."
"Since everyone in the world believes that we can't beat Arsenal, let's break their prejudice. We will use a victory to tell them that they are wrong. We can beat all opponents because we are Real Madrid!"
At the end of his speech, Gao Shen almost roared and clenched his fists.
Many players were also deeply moved because Gao Shen expressed their thoughts.
"Both AS and Marca are asking God for help, but I am Chinese. We Chinese do not believe in God. We believe in ourselves. We only believe that we can create miracles with our own hands!"
Gao Shen spread out his palms and looked directly at the players in front of him, his eyes moving across their faces one after another.
He could feel that even big names like Zidane and Beckham were moved by his words.
Because they are also unwilling.
"The decisive battle is imminent. Everything that needs to be said has been said before, and all the preparations that need to be made have been made before."
"Now, I just want to give you a word."
“Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho said in The Alchemist that when you pursue a dream wholeheartedly and devoutly, the whole universe will work together to help you realize it.”
"Now, let's forget the past, forget all the prejudices, forget all the impossibilities, go onto the pitch and beat Arsenal!"
